Pope Francis Through the Years

Pope Francis Confesses Sins in Public

Pope Francis is confessed by a priest in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, March 28, 2014. Pope Francis kneels before a priest and confessed his sins in a St. Peter's Basilica ceremony. He hopes will inspire others to seek forgiveness.

L' Osservatore Romano/AP Photo

Pope Francis visits Chile and Peru

Pope Francis travels to South America to celebrate Mass and deliver speeches to the faithful. During his 6-day trip, the pope will visit Chile and Peru and discuss issues like corruption in politics, the rights of indigenous peoples and clerical sex abuse.</br></br>Pope Francis smiles at the faithful from the popemobile in Santiago, Chile, Jan. 15, 2018.

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Pope Francis greets Mapuches in Temuco, Chile

Pope Francis greets Mapuches in an offertory of a Mass at the Maquehue Air Base, in Temuco, Chile, Jan. 17, 2018. Francis made comments urging the Mapuche people to reject violence in pushing their cause, while celebrating Mass in Temuco, the capital of the Araucania region, where many of Chile's estimated 1 million people of Mapuche descent live.

Alessandra Tarantino/AP

Pope Francis meets Suu Kyi in Myanmar

Pope Francis and Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi pose for a photo during their meeting in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Nov. 28, 2017. Pope Francis' visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh runs from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2, 2017.

Max Rossi/Pool/EPA

Pope Francis travels to Egypt

Pope Francis gestures as he arrives to hold a mass in Cairo, Egypt, April 29, 2017.

Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

Pope Francis arrives to lead a mass at the Air Defense Stadium in Cairo, Egypt, April 29, 2017.

Mohamed Hossam/EPA

Pope Francis travels to Egypt

Pope Francis attends al-Azhar international peace conference with Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb (not pictured), Egyptian Grand Imam of al-Azhar Mosque, at al-Azhar university in Cairo, on April 28, 2017. Pope Francis is on a two-day visit to Egypt and will meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, head of the Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II, and Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb. He will also hold a mass in the Air Defense Stadium north-east of Cairo.

Ciro Fusco/EPA

Pope Francis travels to Egypt

Pope Francis arrives to meet with Sheik Ahmed el-Tayyib, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Mosque, at the al-Azhar Headquarters, in Cairo, Egypt, on April 28, 2017. Pope Francis came to Egypt for a historic visit to the Arab and Muslim majority nation aimed at presenting a united Christian-Muslim front to repudiate violence committed in God's name.

Nariman El-Mofty/AP Photo

Pope Francis meets with Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese in a private audience at the Vatican, on Nov. 30, 2016, in Rome. Scorsese is in Rome to present his new film "Silence." The movie, adapted from the 1966 novel by Japanese writer Shusaku Endo is about the persecution of a group of Jesuits in 17th-century Japan. The plot is likely of interest to the pope, who as a young man joined the Jesuit order in hopes of becoming a missionary in Japan. He never made it because of his health, but he has spoken out frequently about the church's past and present martyrs.

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Pope Francis washed and kissed the feet of Muslim, Christian and Hindu refugees during an Easter week Mass with asylum-seekers at a shelter in Castelnuovo di Porto, outside Rome, on March 24, 2016. The Holy Thursday rite reenacts the foot-washing ritual Jesus performed on his apostles before being crucified, and is meant as a gesture of service.

AP Photo

Pope Francis waves as he rides through Central Park in the popemobile, on Sept. 25, 2015, in New York City. The pope was in New York for a two-day visit, speaking earlier at the United Nations General Assembly and celebrating Mass in Madison Square Garden.

Carl Court/Getty Images

Pope Francis wears a plastic poncho as he waves to well-wishers after a mass in Tacloban on Jan. 17, 2015. Pope Francis will spend an emotional day in the Philippines with survivors of a catastrophic super typhoon that claimed thousands of lives, highlighting his concern over climate change.

Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

The Pope Visits Rizal Park

A massive crowd fills up the Rizal Park during a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis, Jan. 18, 2015 in Manila, Philippines. Millions filled Manila's main park and surrounding areas for Pope Francis' final Mass in the Philippines, braving a steady rain to hear the pontiff's message of hope and consolation for the southeast Asian country's most downtrodden and destitute.

Sgt. Ray Bruna/Philippine Air Force/AP Photo

Pope Francis addresses a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress while Vice President Joseph Biden, left, and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, right, listen, at the U.S. Capitol, on September 24, 2015, in Washington. Pope Francis is the first pope to address a joint meeting of Congress.

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Pope Francis is presented with a cake during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, on Dec. 17, 2014, in Rome. Pope Francis got a cake, cards and a tango demonstration for his 78th birthday, and over 1,763 pounds of chicken meat for the poor.

L'Osservatore Romano/AP Photo

Pope Francis Travels to South Korea

Pope Francis and South Korean President Park Geun-hye inspect an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the presidential house in Seoul, South Korea, Aug. 14, 2014. Francis became the first pope in 25 years to visit South Korea on Thursday. Seoul's never-timid rival, North Korea, made its presence felt by firing three short-range projectiles less than an hour before he arrived, officials said.

Yonhap/Do Kwang-hwan/AP Photo

Pope Francis, right, embraces his predecessor Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, during a ceremony in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, April 27, 2014, in Rome.

L' Osservatore Romano/AP Photo

Pope Francis leaves at the end of the Canonization Mass in which John Paul II and John XXIII were declared saints, on April 27, 2014, in Vatican City, Rome.

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Pope Francis Confesses Sins in Public

Pope Francis is confessed by a priest in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, March 28, 2014. Pope Francis kneels before a priest and confessed his sins in a St. Peter's Basilica ceremony. He hopes will inspire others to seek forgiveness.

L' Osservatore Romano/AP Photo

Pope Francis and President Barack Obama smile as they exchange gifts, at the Vatican, March 27, 2014, in Rome.

Gabriel Bouys/AP Photo

Pope Kisses His ‘Mini-Me’ Before a Vatican Crowd

Nineteen-month-old Daniele De Sanctis, dressed up as a pope, is handed to Pope Francis as he is driven through the crowd during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Feb. 26, 2014, in Rome.

L'Osservatore Romano/AP Photo

Pope Francis has his picture taken inside St. Peter's Basilica with youths from the Italian Diocese of Piacenza and Bobbio who came to Rome for a pilgrimage, at the Vatican. This photo was released on Aug. 30, 2013, by Deborah Arcelli and taken on a mobile phone by her son Riccardo, second from left.

Riccardo Aguiari/AP Photo

Pope Francis speaks during his "Urbi et Orbi" (To the City and the World) address from a balcony in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 31, 2013, in Rome.

Osservatore Romano/Reuters

Newly elected Pope Francis I, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, leads Mass with cardinals at the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, March 14, 2013, in Rome. In his first public Mass, Pope Francis urged the Catholic Church to stick to its Gospel roots and shun modern temptations, warning that it would become just another charitable group if it forgot its true mission.

Osservatore Romano/Reuters

Pope Francis blesses the Harley Davidson bikers from his popemobile before the start of Mass outside Saint Peter's Square in Rome, June 16, 2013.

Stefano Rellandini/Reuters

Father Don Renzo Zocca, second right, offering his white Renault 4L to Pope Francis during a meeting at the Vatican, on Sept. 7, 2013, in Rome.

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Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, right, kisses the hand of late Pope John Paul II during a ceremony at the Vatican. Bergoglio, who took the name of Pope Francis, was elected on March 13, 2013, as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

Courtesy of Sergio Rubin/AP Photo

Pope Francis answers reporters’ questions during a news conference aboard the papal flight on its way back from Brazil, July 29, 2013. Pope Francis reached out to gays, saying he wouldn't judge priests for their sexual orientation in a remarkably open and wide-ranging news conference as he returned from his first foreign trip. "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" the pope asked.

Luca Zennaro/AP Photo

Argentina's Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio giving a mass outside San Cayetano church in Buenos Aires, Aug. 7, 2009. Bergoglio, who took the name of Pope Francis, was elected on March 13, 2013 the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo

Argentinean Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, right, and Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne walk in procession during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 18, 2005, in their last public appearance before sequestering themselves inside the Sistine Chapel later in the day.

Pier Paolo Cito/AP Photo

Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio talks with a man as he rides the subway in Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 25, 2008. Bergoglio, named pope on March 13, 2013, was known for taking the subway and mingling with the poor of Buenos Aires while archbishop. Bergoglio chose the name Pope Francis and is the first pope ever from the Americas.

Emiliano Lasalvia/LatinContent/Getty Images

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, second from left in back row, poses for a picture with his family in an unknown location. Bergoglio, who took the name of Pope Francis, was elected on March 13, 2013, as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church. Top row from left to right, his brother Alberto Horacio, Bergoglio, his brother Oscar Adrian and his sister Marta Regina. Bottom row from left to right, his sister Maria Elena, his mother Regina Maria Sivori and his father Mario Jose Bergoglio